Chapter 124: _ Flying With No-One

MATE.

The blood in my veins roared so loud in my ears that the distant murmurs of the surrounding crowd vanished completely. I reeled back half a step, staring at Xanthos, then at Elira.

Elira noticed the change in my demeanor immediately. She pulled her hand back from Xanthos’s snout, turning to look up at me with searching eyes.

"Prince Remus? Are you alright? Did... did I do something wrong?"

"It is nothing," I rasped out, forcing my vocal cords to work as I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, fighting with everything in me to regain my composure.

Xanthos, however, had zero desire for composure. My dragon was currently rolling his head onto the grass, tossing and wriggling like an oversized hatchling just to get Elira to stroke his neck again. A musical laugh burst from Elira’s lips as Xanthos’s snorting breath tickled her waist, her hands flying up to playfully shield her face.

Listening to her laugh... watching the way her hazel eyes lit up in unburdened delight while my own dear Dragon fussed around her, made something deep inside my chest swell so hard it was almost painful.

The walls I had spent eight years building around my heart felt as fragile as paper. She was my mate. The bond wasn’t a delusion. It wasn’t a trick of dark magic. The dragon soul bound to mine had recognized her the moment her scent touched the air.

’Get a hold of yourself,’ I snarled telepathically at Xanthos, forcing my face back into a disciplined mask."Xanthos. Behave."

Xanthos let out a disappointed huff of steam, though he settled his frame low to the cobblestones, making his saddle easily accessible.

I stepped up beside Elira, reaching down to take her waist in my hands. The heat of her body seeped straight through her dress, and the fresh wolf mark on her neck throbbed with a visible pulse. I swallowed down a possessive growl, gently lifting her onto the high leather saddle before swinging myself up behind her.

"Hold onto the pommel," I murmured against the shell of her ear.

With a stroke of his wings, Xanthos launched us into the sky.

The wind whipped around us as Last Bastion shrank into a cluster of stone spires beneath us.

For a second, she squeezed her eyes shut as she clutched the saddle horn for dear life. But as Xanthos leveled out into the cloud line, her terror began to melt into something wild and electrifying.

Elira slowly opened her eyes. The wind caught her hair, whipping it back, and an ecstatic laugh suddenly broke from her throat.

"Gods above," she breathed, her voice filled with awe as she stared out over the endless expanse of the Dragon Realm. The clouds tumbled beneath us like oceans of liquid gold, and the biting mountain air rushed into her lungs. "We’re... we’re actually flying!"

I wanted to smile at how ridiculously delighted she was by a mere Dragon flight but being this close to her, sandwiched between my broad chest and the saddle, was pure torture.

Her scent filled my senses. Strands of her hair whipped back in the gale, brushing directly across my cheek and lips. I couldn’t help myself. I leaned in slightly, burying my nose into the curve of her hair, inhaling her deeply, letting the reality of her presence wash over me.

"Do you remember?" I spoke, leaning close enough to brush the back of her neck.

Elira went quiet. Her posture stiffened slightly against my chest. For a few long seconds, she didn’t answer.

"Of course I do. How could I forget?"

A heavy knot in my chest unraveled slightly. "I have been looking for you, Elira. For eight years."

She let out a humorless breath, tilting her head slightly back toward me. "It certainly didn’t seem like it, Your Highness. Considering how you looked right through me the first time you saw me at the ball."

"I did that for your own protection," I answered, my hand tightening slightly on the leather reins. "If the Academy knew you had a connection to me, you would have had a target on your back from day one."

Elira scoffed. "Ah. Right. So you must think of me as something fragile. A helpless trench rat who needs a grand prince to shield her."

I said nothing. I didn’t want to argue with her in the open air, surrounded by the wind. Instead, I shifted my grip on the reins, guiding Xanthos away from the central academy grounds, angling toward the pine forests hugging the outer limits of the Dragon Academy’s territory.

We flew past the jagged peaks until a secluded, stone cottage emerged among the trees, tucked away in a quiet clearing far from the noise and politics of the royal wings.

Xanthos touched down with a thud, folding his golden wings against his back. I dismounted and reached up to catch Elira by the waist, setting her gently onto the mossy ground.

I could feel her breath hitching the moment my hands settled on her waist. It’s okay, because mine did too.

Elira looked around the quiet clearing. Her eyes widened as she took in the rustic wooden porch, the blooming wild orchids, and the silence of the forest.

"What is this place?" she asked, turning to me.

"A cottage I own," I replied, unbuckling my cloak and draping it over a nearby bench. "We couldn’t go to my quarters in the royal building."

Elira raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because my stepsisters are not exactly the friendly type," I said dryly. "They are... overly protective of me."

Elira instinctively raised her hand, brushing her fingers over her cheek as if the ghost of Vaela’s slap still burned against her skin.

"Right. I definitely got that memo the last time."

A pang of guilt sliced through my gut as I remembered her lying on the Great Hall floor with a face flushed red from Vaela’s hand.

"I apologize for Vaela’s mistake. She will not lay a hand on you again. I will personally ensure it." I said quietly, stepping up to the door of the cottage and pushing it open.

I gestured for her to step inside.

The interior of the cottage was warm, smelling of pine wood, and dried herbs. It had a crackling stone hearth and a soft leather sofa.

Elira stepped over the threshold. She turned back to face me, her arms crossing over her chest as she watched me close the door, sealing the two of us inside the quiet sanctuary.

I leaned back against the closed door, crossing my arms as my eyes met hers.

"Now, what do you want us to talk about first, Elira? Our past... or our future?"